Accident Or Fate
by JadeTakashi
Summary: Was their meeting that day an accident or fate intervening? MoJo Post-RENT Formerly "All or Nothing"
1. A Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

Joanne Jefferson was in a very bad mood.

She sat in the Life Café near a window, staring out into the bright June sun and directly into nothing at all. Today had not been a good day so far. In fact, Joanne was positive this was the worst day of the year.

To begin with, she was horribly fatigued. After suffering insomnia for all weekend, waking every hour on this particular Monday had been a real kick in the ass. She hadn't been able to get back to sleep around three am, so she'd gotten up and gone for a jog hoping to tire herself before going back to bed. Needless to say the trick hadn't worked. At about six am, Joanne had walked her tired body into her office downtown. Her secretary hadn't come in until three hours later, at the usual time, and like everyone else who arrived at the firm after eight am, was quite surprised to see Joanne staring at her wall blankly.

"_Ms. Jefferson?" _Jennifer had questioned. Joanne hadn't answered her. She rarely ever responded when Jennifer called her by her given name. She'd always cultivated familiarity between her and her assistant, but this morning she had honestly not heard the younger woman calling until she'd spoken again.

"_Joanne?_" She turned at the sound of her name, the name she so rarely heard anymore. Her father only ever called her Kitten, the blissful nickname he'd given her as an infant. It was a testament, he'd said, to her playful and curious nature. It was a part of her that was almost never shown these days. Too much had happened for playful curiosity to take over her life.

"_Are you alright, kiddo?" _Joanne had smiled, or at least attempted the expression before failing miserably. At the look that came to her assistant's face, the lawyer sighed with a shake of her head and proceeded to gather the files she would need for the day. The two friends, as Joanne considered Jennifer something of a friend, went about their day in the usual fashion.

Her first two clients had come in for their meeting at ten am, a young couple suing their landlord for negligence. An apartment fire had completely destroyed their loft and killed their two cats, Alice and Jasper. They were suing the landlord because apparently the prick had failed to fix faulty wiring in the kitchen area before moving the couple in. Isabel and Eric Lee was the couples name and they were often indecisive and vicious toward one another. The entire two hours they had sat in her office, Isabel and Eric had argued back and forth with each other. Finally, at around twelve, Joanne had escorted them out with some semblance of a smile, to the amusement and concern of her secretary.

Her hour of lunch had gone by swiftly, reading through the file for the next case while she munched on a salad. Oddly enough, despite working at one of the most successful litigation firms in the city, Joanne Jefferson rarely ever left her office for lunch. On the few occasions she did leave, it was because one of her Bohemian friends had dragged her out of her office for the day. Of course, Joanne hadn't wanted to spend her day reliving painful memories of bliss, so she'd started working again to distract herself.

Then, suddenly, her phone had rang, and she'd picked up the call.

"_Joanne, you've got a visitor."_ Jennifer's voice had whispered on the other line. Distantly, she had heard the sound of footsteps but before she could ask who the visitor was, her office door had swung open. In walked Judge Anna Jefferson, or as Joanne was so often reminded, her mother.

"_Immele."_ Her middle name alerted her to the mood her mother was in. See, Anna never called her by her given name unless they were in public. In the privacy of an office, or one of their many homes, Anna only called her daughter Immele. It was a testament to how much the two women didn't get along. The young lawyer was only Joanne when it suited her mother's purposes, only Joanne when she was worth something, only Joanne when she wasn't tarnishing the family name.

Anna had never admitted it aloud, but Joanne knew exactly how her mother felt. It became obvious whenever Anna showed up to present her daughter with one of her legendary lectures, like the one she had come to give today.

"_Immele, some of my friends and I were talking the other day, and they had remarked that you seemed a little out of sorts lately. You've been arriving to working odd hours, they said. According to your father, you barely speak to anyone except your clients and secretary, and even Jennifer seems to notice that something is wrong. You've got to pick your life up, Joanne. Stop wasting away behind that desk. You're going to ruin yourself this way. Think of your father. He can't bear to see his daughter so lonesome and honestly, darling, it is very unbecoming of a woman of your station."_

That had been the last straw. Yes, Joanne was very used to her mother's incessant lectures about how much of a failure she was. This, however, had gone over the line. The day had already been horrible, and working on little to no sleep, Joanne had no patience for her mother's antics. Ever since the unspeakable events at her engagement party… Ever since then, Anna had been cold toward her daughter, constantly telling her how this thing or that thing was "unbecoming of a woman of her station." The young woman was tired of hearing it, and tired of being rejected by the one woman who supposed to love her no matter what. Staring up at the beautiful glass that protected her office from the elements, Joanne had flown off the handle.

"_I'm never going to be good enough for you, am I, Mother? It's bad enough that I'm happy being a public lawyer, who does most of my very successful work pro bono, but no I had to go and be a lesbian too! And now, it's even worse for poor Judge Anna because not only am I lesbian, but I'm a lesbian who can't even keep a girlfriend for longer than a week. I am just the ultimate form of failure, aren't I, Mother? Poor Judge Anna, she wishes her daughter had never been born."_

The words had been harsh, unbelievably so, but necessary. The anger behind them had silenced her mother, and the woman had walked from the office in shock. Minutes after Anna had left, Jennifer had walked in to her office, and found Joanne still standing in the same spot, staring out at nothing.

"_Joanne? I've rescheduled your meetings for the rest of the day. Go ahead and leave. You need some time to relax."_ Jennifer had stepped around Joanne as she spoke, packing up her briefcase and handing it to her as she gently pulled her out the door. "_Go anywhere, Joanne. Just don't come back here until tomorrow." _

Whispering a heartfelt thanks to her secretary, Joanne had left the building at a dead run. She had needed the escape, needed to leave that building to get away from the thoughts cramming in her mind. No matter how much she hated the words Anna had spoken deep down Joanne knew they were true. Joanne had been moving listlessly through life since that engagement party, since she'd taken a dagger to her own heart.

The memories had swept over her like a flood, and barely holding back the tears that threatened to flow, the young woman had begun walking. She allowed her feet to carry her wherever they wished, trusting that they would help her escape from the pain she was unwilling to let herself feel.

Now, three hours later, Joanne still sat in the same chair she'd sat down at when she walked into the Life café. Ironic that her unconscious thought had brought her here to the place that held bittersweet memories. Still, she'd had nowhere else to turn, and the Life made the best green tea in town. Sipping her cup of the now cold drink, Joanne looked out at the people passing by the window, wishing that she could feel the carefree feeling their faces expressed.

_I could certainly use a distraction._ She thought, and as her mind traveled to the fantasies she hadn't dared to dream, the chimes on the door rang. It opened, and in walked the woman she had hoped to not see.

(**A/N: Alright, readers, this is my first RENT fic, my first slash fic, and quite honestly I have no idea what will happen next. Well, that's not entirely accurate. I do have a general idea of what I want to happen where. So just bear with me, also I'm not a regular updater, so be prepared for a few months to go by between updates. C'est La Vie.  
**

**~JT~)**


	2. Distraction

Joanne had never settled upon what it was that made her so beautiful. Was it the long brown locks that fell ever so gently upon her shoulders? Was it the hidden golden highlights that rested deep in those brown curls, the highlights that made her hair look as though it shimmered in the sunlight? Maybe it was the soft texture of her cream colored skin, skin that felt like smooth silk beneath her hands. Of course, it was quite possible that it was simply the brilliant brown eyes that captured Joanne's heart and soul every time she looked into them. Lucky for Joanne, she could not get lost in those wonderful eyes at that moment because they were hidden by a pair of large black sunglasses.

Due to the blocking of a direct view of those magnificent irises, Joanne was able to take in the rest of the other woman's appearance. As she reflected upon her former lover, the lawyer came to one conclusion within seconds.

Maureen Johnson was not having a good day.

The sunglasses were the first giveaway. Joanne was well aware that Maureen only wore those glasses when she wanted to hide her thoughts. Anyone who knew the diva knew that Maureen's eyes couldn't lie. They always told you her thoughts, and while the actress was great at controlling her expression, her eyes were the one thing she could never manipulate effectively. The disguise made Joanne wonder what was troubling the usually expressive woman.

The next thing Joanne noticed was the grimace on Maureen's face. It was hard to get Maureen down. She was a woman who knew what she wanted out of life and went after it, a person who had dreams that would never die, and whose aspirations were the essence of her life. A high spirited person, Joanne had only known Maureen to have a look like that on her face once, and that had been when Angel had died. Then, of course, the look had been much worse, and Joanne shuddered as the memories of those days flooded back.

"_Didn't give an inch when I gave a mile. I'd be happy to die for a taste of what Angel had, someone to live for, unafraid to say I love you._" She remembered the tears that had cascaded down Maureen's face that day, and even how they'd kissed and made up. Those days were gone now. It had been almost a year since then, and their grief at Angel's death as well as their incompatibility had finally torn them apart for good. Now, Joanne and Maureen rarely interacted except at the usual hangouts when the Bohos met at the Life. The irony struck her that they were there now, the place where much of the magic that had been their life together had been made.

The lawyer watched as Maureen glanced around the Café, obviously looking for a corner to hide in. Joanne could tell by the way she gripped the oversized bag on her shoulder that Maureen was looking for a release, and at four in the afternoon, an ice cold beer was probably very promising to the diva. No matter their tumultuous past, Joanne still considered Maureen a good friend, and the young woman was never one to leave her friends alone when they needed her.

"Maureen?" She questioned softly, and the other woman spun around as soon as she'd spoken. The look of recognition that passed over her face was almost unnoticeable, and had any person other than Joanne been watching it would have gone unseen. Of course, Joanne knew the other woman intimately, and little things like the small smile that had crossed her face would never go unnoticed.

_But that's the past, and this is now. Maureen and I are just friends and that is all we ever will be._ Joanne thought. It wasn't a particularly exciting thought, but it was something that the lawyer had accepted. Fighting the customary hesitation that Maureen's presence usually caused, the young woman waved her friend over to the table and smiled.

"Hey Jo." Maureen's reply was low, and came with a small smirk upon her face. Joanne watched as she walked over to the table and slid her lithe body into the chair across the table. The tension in her shoulders relaxed ever so slightly as the scent of the green tea Joanne was drinking wafted over her. The lawyer stifled a chuckle at the familiar sight.

"Would you like a cup, Mo?" She asked, indicating the cup of tea between them. Maureen usually hated the drink, but in this very unusual state, anything was possible. The other woman shook her head and smiled, pulling the black sunglasses up into the dark curls on her head.

"I'd rather have a tall glass of some hard liquor right now, but it's a bit early for that so I'll just settle for a Coke." Joanne smirked slightly, gratified that she still knew her friend so well despite… well, everything. "So how are you?"

The lawyer groaned and shook her head as she rolled her eyes. Maureen's head tilted to the side and a look of confusion stole upon her face.

"Let's just say it has been a long day." Maureen nodded knowingly and signaled to the waiter, who came over with an ice-cold glass of Coke. She took a long drink of the soda then spoke again.

"I can relate. Got a big case coming up?" The diva questioned.

"No more than the usual. You know me, tireless worker. All the days are long." A silence fell between them as they watched each other. Joanne knew what the look on Maureen's face meant. That was the problem of your ex-girlfriend also being one of your closest friends. She knew you too well to be lied to. To be a person whose job often counted on the ability to deceive or to mask one's emotions, Joanne had never been able to hide the truth from Maureen.

"Anna showed up at the office today with the usual monthly lecture. I'll just say that it got a little more intense than normal." The bitterness she felt was difficult to hide and she could see Maureen's agreement on the other woman's face. "If I'm lucky, she'll be too pissed tell Dad today, but you know as well as I do that I am never that lucky when it involves my mother."

"Well that must have been fun." Answered Maureen with a smirk. "I haven't heard from the Wicked Witch of Scarsdale in a couple months which is nice. Guess that means I'm due for another spell." With a sign, she took a sip of her Coke and reached over to squeeze Joanne's hand.

"Don't worry about her, Jo. Your mother just doesn't get how brilliant you are. She can go fuck herself." Joanne smiled at Maureen's words. True to form, the woman had said exactly what Joanne wasn't willing to say for herself. Anna Jefferson was at best a pain in the ass, and Joanne was tired of the stress of trying to live up to her expectations.

"What about you? Was your day a day from hell too?" She asked with a concerned look in her eyes. Maureen attempted to smile, but it failed and she sighed, shrugging.

"It hasn't been the worst day ever. It's just been really long. Been walking the streets job searching all day." She glanced down at the table. "I hate that fucking smile they give you."

"The 'gosh you're pretty but that's the only reason I'd hire you so I won't hire you' smile?" Joanne responded. She knew that smile. She'd seen it on the faces of her coworkers plenty of times. Maureen nodded.

"That's the one. Fucking pricks. That is not letting a girl down easy." Her tone held a hint of bitterness, and Joanne could see there was more to the story than Maureen had said.

"I thought you had that job as a secretary somewhere. I remember Collins mentioning it to me the last time I talked to him." The chuckle Maureen answered with came with a cryptic smile.

"Well they pulled the 'we're moving in a new direction and no longer need your services' card and fired my ass. So now, with the audition season pretty much dead for the next few months, I need a sustainable job."

Joanne nodded and the conversation continued after that. It meandered to a variety of topics, just in the way it had been when they'd first met. For Joanne, the conversation was like a trip into the past, or a glimpse of what the future could be if they let it. Their relationship as lovers was over, and it had to be for both their sakes. No rules had been written saying they couldn't be friends. If friendship was all Joanne got from Maureen, it would be enough.

She only wished she knew a way to help her friend out with a job. She knew the type of life Maureen lived well enough to know that her giving up auditions meant her need for money was serious. The lawyer didn't offer to give Maureen any money; however, because she knew the diva wouldn't accept it. No, to help Maureen Joanne had to find another way to do it. She just didn't know how.

**AN: made some minor edits to chapter one, and sorry for the title change. The other one just didn't fit well enough for my tastes. **


	3. Problem Solved  or Started

Today was a great day, as was evidenced by the large smile on Joanne's face. She practically danced back into her office building. The greater part of her day had been spent in court, and it had been a triumphant day down at the Municipal Hall. Four cases had gone before the judge today and all four cases had been settled in favor of Joanne and her clients. Her excitement was palpable as she rode the elevator to the seventeenth floor. It had been so long since she'd had a court date this successful. A major boost to her confidence had been made, and Joanne was on such a high that she walked right into her secretary.

Reeling back with a short laugh, she stared curiously at Jennifer, who held a large box full of trinkets and office supplies in her hand. Seeing her curious expression, the other woman only shook her head and smiled.

"Ask Steve." Jennifer said as she stepped around Joanne and out into the hallway. The lawyer watched her young friend step onto the elevator before shrugging her shoulders and sauntering into her office. Whatever Steve had Jennifer doing had provided her secretary entertainment for the day, so Joanne couldn't really complain that he'd commandeered her for the day.

Her briefcase was placed gently on the floor just inside the door and she began to pull off the light raincoat she wore so that it could be hung on a hook inside a small closet. She walked absentmindedly over to her desk and sat down in the cold leather chair. Today had been too good a day to just go back to the paperwork, but Joanne knew that it had to be done. Thus, with a sigh and a moment of wishful thinking she opened a drawer on the file cabinet behind her desk and pulled out the appropriate folders.

The next few hours passed in a quiet easy manner with just the occasional interruption from a coworker asking for information or a phone call from a client. After a long day in the courtroom, it was a rather nice way to end out the day and Joanne was rather happy about that as days like these did not happen rather often. Unfortunately, it was not to remain quite so simple as she stepped out of her office in search of her secretary.

Jennifer wasn't at her desk, which wasn't exactly unusual but Joanne realized as she glanced around the small lobby area that she hadn't seen the woman all day since crashing into her just inside the office doors. At that moment, one of her coworkers came in and noticed her confused stare.

"Hey Joanne. If you're looking for Jennifer she's over in Steve's office. She's been helping him with something all day." Joanne smiled.

"Thanks, Ellen. Did you need something?" Her coworkers typically only came into her office area to get a file or some piece of paperwork, or to ask some question. To be such a successful firm, they weren't really a close knit group and operated in a more isolated fashion. At least, that was the way they all interacted with her.

"Oh yeah, that's why I came over here. I know you finished the Merjei case about a few months ago, but it's really similar to a case I've going on now, and I was wondering if I could get the decision from you to see how the judge explained his ruling. I'm actually trying to avoid a dismissal on this one." Joanne nodded in response.

"Yeah, that's not exactly helpful when you're the suing party and not the one getting sued like Merjei was." She said laughingly as she walked back into her office. The file was easy enough to find as it was constantly being pulled for references. Holding the pages Ellen had requested, Joanne headed back out into the outer office and handed it to her with a smile. "I hope it helps."

"You and me both. Thanks!" Ellen walked out chuckling and Joanne followed. Steve's office was just down the hall from hers and wouldn't take long to get to. Not that she had to go very far because as soon as she stepped outside her office door, her secretary walked up with a very worn out look on her face.

"Steve needs to see you in his office." The girl said tiredly. Joanne nodded, and looked down the hall towards Steve's open door.

"Jennifer, why don't you take a load off in my office? We can close up shop together when I get back." Jennifer responded with a soft chuckle and head into the office, leaving Joanne to make her way to Steve. When she walked into his office, she found him sitting behind his desk threading his hands through his short black hair. He didn't seem to notice her soft tap on his door, so she sat down on his desk and watched him glare angrily at a sheet of paper.

"Steve." She said with a laugh. It was rare to catch the other man looking so grim, especially when it came to work. Steve Trudeau was the only attorney in the firm that could claim having worked longer hours than Joanne. Most of the long hours the two lawyers worked were spent together, tossing ideas and complaints between them looking for new and better ways to win. Joanne considered him a friend among coworkers, which is why she hadn't been upset that he'd commandeered her secretary for the day. He looked up at the sound of his name, and jumped back in surprise.

"Jeff, you can't come in here in that sneaky way of yours without saying something. Almost gave me a heart attack." He said with the lopsided grin that was reserved for the only daughter of his extremely demanding boss. Joanne smirked.

"Well, Steve, I knocked on the door but you were so caught up in glaring at that paper you missed my fabulous entrance." She leaned down and looked at the paper. "What is this anyway?"

"My secretary's letter of resignation." He snorted. The frustration in his tone made Joanne look up at him.

"Explain." Steve immediately went into a short tale about his secretary, a young man who's name Joanne had never known, was being forced to return home to Arizona to care for a younger sibling who had fallen gravely ill. Both of his parents were dead, and he had no other living relatives. The young man hadn't known how long he would be in Arizona and so had resigned his position instead.

"So now I'm stuck trying to run this damn office, when I'm not even here half the time." Steve described in irritation. "Thank God for Jennifer or else I'd have been completely screwed today. By the way, that girl is a goddess. I might be out of job without her help today." At that, Joanne laughed.

"Steve, you bring in the most clients and money to the firm. I highly doubt Boss Dad would fire you for something so unexpected." He laughed in response.

"Maybe not today, but by then end of the week I will be. There's no way I can keep my clientele in one piece without a secretary." To that, Joanne had nothing to say.

So the day went on just as it had begun, and the only difference was the thought now tormenting her mind. Joanne had known, the moment Steve had explained his troubles to her, exactly who to call. It was an easy way to kill two birds with one stone, and the thought positively frightened her. It had been a couple weeks since she and Maureen had spent that evening at the Life. She wasn't even sure the other woman would be receptive to the idea. For all she knew, Maureen had found a job by then. Still, the thought kept nagging at her all night until finally she picked up the phone and dialed a number she hadn't dialed in eight months.

"Hello?" came Maureen's sleep-filled voice. Joanne sighed audibly before answering.

"Sorry to wake you, Maureen." She could hear Maureen moving around as the diva became alert.

"Joanne? Is that you?" Surprise laced itself into the fatigue.

"Yeah it's me, Mo." She said quietly, not really certain she understood why she'd called in the first place.

"What's wrong?" Trust Maureen to always know when Joanne was up to something, or feeling a little conflicted about her own thoughts. They knew each other way to well.

"Nothing is wrong. Something came up at the firm, and I thought about you." Another sigh.

"I'm great. Still jobless, but great." She could hear the sardonic smile in her voice.

"Can you come by the firm tomorrow around 8? I know that's like dawn for you." Maureen chuckled, and Joanne noticed that she was absently twirling the cord of the phone around her fingers. She stopped.

"I'll see you at 745, Miss Jefferson." The reply was curt, and Joanne grimaced, wondering at whatever mistake she'd made already.

"Okay, well, I don't want to keep you up any longer so I'll get off the phone now."

"It's never too late for you to call, Joanne. I'll see you in the morning." Those simple words calmed every doubt that had forced its way into her mind. They whispered their goodbyes, and then Joanne hung up the phone, rolling over into the plush blankets that covered her bed.

Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.

**AN: I apologize profusely for how … long the wait has been. I'll endeavor to improve on timing. RL and muses, they hate me. Thanks for sticking around. **


End file.
